Board of Directors of the National Center on
Public Policy and Higher Education - 2/01/00

Thank you very much, Governor Hunt. I've known Governor Hunt since 1979,
when I started working for Bob Graham in Florida. Governor Hunt has truly
shown this country what it means to be an "education governor."

Also many thanks to Pat Callan and the rest of the Board of Directors
for inviting me to speak here tonight. Pat has provided advice to me for
20 years. So if I'm not doing something right, it's his fault.

I'm pleased to share my views on issues facing California higher education.
California is lucky to have not one but two great systems of higher education,
the University of California and the California State University. I believe
that the issues that California is facing now will apply nationally both
now and in the future.

Last month, we heard President Clinton and Governor Davis talk about
what a time of unprecedented opportunity this is for our country and for
our state. We now have peace, prosperity, low unemployment, budget surpluses,
and new technologies that allow us to communicate faster than ever before.
Yet we face a long list of challenges ahead that will require a renewed
commitment to education.

As President Clinton said in his State of the Union address, "Never before
have we had such a blessed opportunity -- and such a profound obligation"
-- to build for our future. I think President Clinton's call to action
sets the stage for the challenges we face in higher education.

I want to discuss six major issues tonight:

Access

Diversity

K-16 Collaboration

Teacher Preparation

Workforce Preparation

Funding

1. Access

The first major issue is access and Tidal Wave II or the "baby boom echo."

The California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) has predicted
that California's public institutions of higher education will grow by
an unprecedented 714,000 additional students by 2010, a 36 percent increase.

Even if we could afford to build new campuses, we couldn't build them
fast enough. So all of our state's institutions are going to have to look
at alternative means of providing access --

Year-round operations

Alternative scheduling

Shared facilities

Increased use of technology, particularly for distance education

Off-campus sites

For the CSU, maintaining access is perhaps the biggest issue we face
in the next 10 years. The CSU's student population is expected to grow
by 37 percent, or 130,000 students by 2010. We are expecting growth of
about 12,000 to 13,000 students each year -- the equivalent of adding
a new CSU Hayward each year.

Our Board of Trustees has pledged to maintain our commitment to provide
access to all qualified students. But in order to maintain that commitment,
we will have to use those alternative modes of access, while keeping a
strong focus on our teaching mission.

2. Diversity

President Clinton said in his State of the Union address that within
10 years there will be no majority race in California. In a little more
than 50 years, there will be no majority race in the U.S. So California
is setting the trend for the rest of the country.

Our state's growth in diversity prompts several important challenges
for higher education:

Affirmative Action: California's universities will have to work
out affirmative action issues and fine-tune their policies to provide
the greatest possible range of opportunities for all students. This will
have to include outreach to the K-12 schools -- not just to students,
but also to teachers and parents.

Focus on Undereducated Immigrant Populations: Our universities
will need to reach these populations early -- especially the English language
learners -- to give them the help they need.

Financial Aid: Our universities must make financial aid effective
and accessible. Financial aid should be fair, efficient, and need-based.
But ultimately, the best form of financial aid is low tuition. We have
it at the CSU; Governor Hunt has it at the UNC. Let's keep it that way.

3. K-16/University Collaboration

In order to serve the students of tomorrow, all segments of our educational
systems will have to talk to each other and work together. That means
colleges and universities must work on:

Assisting K-12 Schools: -- We need to make a priority of mentoring
students and offering professional development for teachers.

Easing Transition to College/ Articulation: K-12 schools, community
colleges, and universities must work closely together to ensure that the
transition from one segment to another is smooth, logical, and consistent.
For instance, we should all use a common calendar.

Reducing the Need for Remedial Education: We need to increase
and improve outreach efforts to ensure that future students are properly
prepared for college-level work. We must focus on student achievement
in reading, writing, science, and math -- especially algebra and geometry.

At the CSU, we are working to reduce the need for remedial education
by:

Establishing faculty-to-faculty partnerships;

Working closely with the 223 California high schools that send us
the most students needing remedial education;

Sending more CSU students as mentors into the K-12 schools.

We also have created a poster that gives
a step-by-step checklist of the courses that middle and high school students
need to take to prepare for college admission. We have printed 85,000
copies of the poster, in Spanish and English, and distributed it around
the state to middle schools, high schools, and counselors. The schools
that have received it are already asking for more.

4. Teacher Preparation

Governor Davis said in his State of the State address, "If California
can feed, entertain and connect the world - as we do - then we can put
a qualified teacher in every classroom."

I believe that if we are going to continue to feed, entertain, and connect
the world, then we're going to have to put a qualified teacher in every
classroom.

The colleges and universities in California -- as well as those in the
rest of the country -- are going to have to prepare more and better teachers.